The Key Takeaway From 2 Decades of China’s Military-Manned Space Program

The Chinese regime has no hesitation to arm its space stations and other large manned space platforms.

A Long March-2F carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft, on the launch pad encased in a shield at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert in northwest China on Oct. 25, 2023. Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images

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Oct. 15 was the 20th anniversary of China’s first manned spaceflight, with its Russian Soyuz-derived Shenzhou-5 space capsule having orbited the Earth 14 times in 21 hours before landing, with Yang Liwei, a former People’s Liberation Army Air Force Shenyang J-6 fighter pilot, aboard.